Apparatus for dispensing materials into the Fallopian tubes of a female through non-surgican procedures have been described in a plurality of patents issued to the inventors of this invention including but not limited to U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,939, entitled SINGLE STROKE DISPENSING METHOD, issued Apr. 8, 1975.
Through the use of such dispensing apparatus, settable liquid or fluid-like materials are injected into the Fallopian tubes to occlude the canals of the tubes. The materials used for this purpose are generally fast setting, and are often sensitive to moisture, and therefore will quickly set up in the uterine cavity if not rapidly forced into the canals of the Fallopian tubes. This rapid movement of the materials is accomplished by expansion of a member which substantially fills and conforms to the shape of the uterine cavity, thus applying pressures to the materials to force them into the Fallopian tubes. It has been found that the need to use a rapidly setting material is caused, for one reason, by the undesirability of having the materials flow through the canals of the Fallopian tubes into the peritoneal cavity. Prior devices used a low viscosity, quickly setting material in an attempt to prevent this undesirable passage of materials completely through the canal of the Fallopian tube. This caused a problem because of the possibility that the rapidly setting material may begin to set up as soon as it reaches the moisture of the uterine cavity and may either remain in the cavity or cause an insufficient amount to enter the Fallopian tubes, thus causing an obvious disadvantage. This problem is overcome by the present invention which enables the use of a material with a longer setting time and, if desired, a higher viscosity. This is accomplished in the present invention by using the method and means of substantially or effectively sealing the isthmus, or entrance from the uterine cavity into the Fallopian tubes with the expandable member to prevent the materials from flowing through the Fallopian canals. The canal of the Fallopian tube is of sufficiently small diameter and the materials used are of a sufficiently high viscosity so that by thus blocking or sealing one end of the canal, the material will be held in the canal by its surface tension, much as closing one end of a soda straw will hold liquids within the straw.